Air France flight with 324 on board turns back to Japan's Kansai airport
(Mainichi Japan)
OSAKA -- An Air France flight bound for Paris returned to a major airport near this west Japan city after reporting technical problems off the coast of eastern Japan. There were no injuries.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's West Japan Civil Aviation Bureau, Flight 291 departed from Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture at 11:15 a.m., bound for Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport.
Once over the Pacific Ocean near the coast of east Japan's Miyagi Prefecture, an indicator alerted the crew of problems with the plane's weather radar and airspeed indicator at around 11:50 a.m. After making emergency contact with flight control, the Airbus 350 returned to its origin at around 2:25 p.m. All 234 passengers and crew were unharmed.
Damage to part of the plane's nose was reportedly detected. Crews will inspect the entire plane, and the transport ministry intends to investigate.
(Japanese original by Sayuri Toda, Osaka City News Department)
